Rail chair and joint.



No. 688,901. Patent ed Dec/I7, :90!

' B. H. TB'IPP.

RAIL CHAIR AND JOINT.

Application filed Sept. 10, 1901) (lo Model.)

.lllilllh UNITED STATES ATENT irrrcn".

TO FRANCIS S. BARNES AND BENJAMIN RADCLIFFE, OF MARCUS IOWA.

RAIL CHAIR AND Joint.

srnolnronrron forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,901, dated December17, 1901. Application filed eptember 10, 1901. Serial No. 741930. (Nomodel.)

To (0% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BRADFORD I-I. TRIPP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Marcus, in the county of Cherokee and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Rail Chair and Joint, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in rail-joints, and has forits object to construct a joint which will not only connect the adjacentends of rails, but will also serve to brace and strengthen the same andform a structure in every respect self-sustaining.

The device forming the subject of my invention may be used either as anordinary rail-joint and spiked in position on a tie or may be used as abridge or suspended joint between two adjacent ties.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described,illustratedin the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse sectionalelevation of a rail-joint constructed in accordance with my inventionand illustrating it in position on a rail. Fig. 2 is a detachedperspective view of the supporting'chair on which the rail rests. Fig. 3is a similar View of one of the truss-braces forming part of the chair.Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of the angle-bar employed at eachside of the joint for uniting the sections to each other and to therailwaytic.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe various figures of the drawings.

1 designates a railway-rail of any ordinary or desired construction. Therail or the adjacent ends of two rails are supported on a flat chair 2,somewhat wider than the foot. of the rail and having their longitudinaledges rounded for engagement with the lower curved edges of truss-braces3. On each side of the chair are formed lugs 4E, inclined at an angle tothe horizontal line of the chair and each lug being provided withoppositely-disposed notches or recesses 5. The truss-braces 3 aresomewhat thicker at the lower than at the upper edge, and at the innerside of the lower portion is an ogee-shaped groove 6, the shoulder ofwhich engages with the top of the foot of the rail, and at the same timethe lower curved portion engages the rounded edge of the chair, as shownmore clearly in Fig. 1. In each of the truss-braces are slots 7 of awidth to permit the entrance of the lugs 4:, and the metal at this pointof the truss-brace is of sufficient thickness to extend a trifle beyondthe lower edge of the notches 5. Then the truss-braces 3 are placed inposition, their upper edges are engaged in the rounded corners formed atthe under side of the head and web of the rail, and the whole forms anexceedingly-rigid structure tending to support and strengthen the rails.

1O designates an angle-bar, the two sides of which are bent at an obtuseangle, the lower portion being fiat and adapted to rest upon the tie orties, suitable spike-openings 11 being provided for the purpose ofenabling its being secured in position. The opposite portion of theangle-bar is provided with an inverted-T-shaped slot 12, the horizontalportion of which is of sufficient width to admit the luget and thevertical portion being contracted to a width equal to the distancebetween the adjacent bases of the notches 5, so that after the angle-barhas been adjusted in position it may be forced down until the body ofthe angle-bar is engaged by the notches 5, and the whole structure isfirmly bound together. In order to render the clamping action moreefficient, the angle-bar is provided at its upper edge with aninwardly-projecting rib 13, adapted to bind upon the face of thetruss-bar S. a

In some instances where a bridge or suspended joint is to be madebetween two ties the lower portions of the truss-braces are inwardlybent to engage under the body of the chair, as shown by dotted line 3'in Fig. 1,

and the various sections of the joint are made of sufficient length tobridge the spacev between two adjacent ties.

The whole structure is thoroughly and rigidly braced and serves not onlyto strengthen the connections at the end of the rails, but by reason ofthe pressure exerted by the upper ends of the truss-plates under thehead of the rail serves to keep adjacent rails in perfect alinement.

As a further and important feature of the 5 invention it will be notedthat the chair 2' is provided on its upper face with lugs 14, which areadapted to engage suitable notches or recesses 15, formed in the foot ofthe rail, and prevent anycreeping orlongitudinal displacement of therail under the influence of high or low temperatures.

The device may be modified in a variety of ways, and the shape of thetruss-braces may be altered to accommodate rails of varying contour, orthe device may be employed in other connections, such as bracing curvedor guard-rails, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of my in- Vention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A rail-jointcomprising a lower chair for the support of the rail, truss-bracesconnected to said chair and adapted to engage with the body of the rail,angle-bars arranged outside the truss-braces,'and means for securing thetruss-braces and angle-bars to the chair.

2. A rail-joint comprising a chair having rounded longitudinal edges,truss-braces hav- 0 ingtheir upper edges in engagement with the headof the rail, the loweredges of said trussbraces being provided withcurved grooves.

for the reception of the edge of the chair and the foot of the rail, andmeans for securing 5 the truss-braces to the chair.

, 3. A rail-joint comprising a chair, slotted.

lugs or flanges arranged on each side of said chair, truss-braces havingslots for the recephaving on its upper face lugs for the engagement ofnotches or recesses in the foot of the rail and forming an integral partof said chairsection, truss-braces engaging the edges of the chair andthe foot of the rail, auxiliary 5 5 angle-bars arranged outside thetruss-braces, and means for securing the truss-braces and angle-bars tothe cl1air,substantially as specified.

6. A rail-joint comprising a chair of a width greater than the foot ofthe rail and having rounded or curved longitudinal edges, trussbraces 3having their upper ends in engagement with the head of the rail, saidtrussbraces having at their lower inner faces grooves for the receptionof the edges of the chair and the foot of the rail, locking-lugs 4arranged on each side of the rail and having oppositely-disposed notchesor recesses 5, and angle-bars having T-shaped slots 12 for engagementwith said notched lugs, substantially as specified.

'7. A rail-joint comprising a flat plate forming a chair for the supportof the foot of the rail, said plate being of a width greater than thewidth of the rail and having rounded longitudinal edges, lugs 14.arranged on the surface of said plate for the engagement of notches inthe foot of the rail, inclined lugs 4, having recesses 5 arranged oneither side 8 of said plate, truss-braces 3 having their upper ends inengagement with the under side of the head of the rail and having 'attheir lower inner edges grooves for the reception of the plate and thefoot of the rail, slots 7 arranged at the lower portion of saidtrussbraces for the reception of the lugs 4?, and angle-bars havingT-shaped slots for the reception of the notched portions of said lugs,the upper inner edges of said angle-bars being provided with flanges forengagement with the sides of the truss-braces, substantially asspecified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affiXedmy signature in 5 the presence of two witnesses.

BRADFORD H. TRIPP.

Witnesses:

HERBERT 13. RoBEsoN, G. M. WIXOEL.

